Taxi Driver is a landmark neo-noir film directed by Martin Scorsese, and its influence can be seen in acclaimed movies such as Drive, Nightcrawler, and Joker. The film recently joined a free streaming platform’s library, giving new audiences a chance to watch it. Taxi Driver helped establish Scorsese’s reputation and made Robert De Niro a movie star; the pair later made several classics together, most recently the Oscar-nominated true-crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon.
Robert De Niro also had a key supporting role in Joker, which Scorsese was once expected to produce. Some viewers compared Joker with Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, while Quentin Tarantino became a prominent admirer of the film. Tarantino’s praise fits his longstanding admiration for Scorsese’s second collaboration with De Niro, following 1973’s Mean Streets.
Released in 1976, Taxi Driver was written by Paul Schrader and features Harvey Keitel, who later appeared in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, alongside Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, and Albert Brooks. The film has an 89% “Certified Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely regarded as a major work of the New Hollywood era.
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The Mystery Desk
Case File 0481 · Open
Collider/ Movies/ Mystery/ Which Classic Mystery Movie Are You
8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Classic Mystery Movie Are You? Every answer counts toward the verdict.
Four films that solve a mystery four completely different ways, from a comedy with three separate endings to a thriller told backwards. One of them has been describing you all along.
The Suspects
01Clue1985
02Rear Window1954
03Se7en1995
04Memento2000
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Exhibit 01 of 08Film Night
What kind of film night are you after? Pick the one that sounds most like you
Press 1 to 4 to log an answer
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Exhibit 02 of 08Character Witness
How would your friends describe you? Be honest
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Exhibit 03 of 08Whereabouts
What do you do when you are stuck at home? One answer only
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Exhibit 04 of 08The Twist
How do you react to a plot twist? Pick the closest answer
How do you feel about endings? Think about the last film that got you
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Exhibit 08 of 08The Verdict
What should a mystery film do to you? Last one
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Case Closed Verdict Your Mystery Movie Is
Clue Jonathan Lynn · 1985 You are the most fun thing in the room, and you are not remotely in control of it.
Clue is a murder mystery adapted from a board game, played at farce speed by a standout comic ensemble, and it refuses to settle on a single answer. That makes it a fitting match for someone lively, quick, hard to plan around, and central to everyone’s good time. Case Notes
You keep the energy up and the plan loose, helping people enjoy the evening.
Three different endings went to cinemas in 1985, so the conclusion depended on which screen you entered.
The film initially flopped, found an audience on video, and returned to cinemas for its fortieth anniversary with the endings randomized again.
Your potential weakness is that chaos makes excellent company but a poor plan.
Chaotic Quick Sociable Unserious
Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock · 1954 You watch, and you notice the thing everybody else walks past.
In Rear Window, Hitchcock confines James Stewart to one room with a broken leg and a view of his neighbours, building a thriller around a man looking out of a window. This result suits someone who spots overlooked details and often reaches a conclusion before finding proof. Case Notes
You are often the most observant person in your circle, noticing changes before anyone mentions them.
The courtyard was one of Paramount’s largest sets, with thirty-one apartments and working plumbing.
The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Director, and is still taught as a carefully constructed thriller.
Your risk is that watching and acting are not the same thing.
Se7en David Fincher · 1995 You take things on, and you do not put them down.
David Fincher made a serial-killer film in which the detectives struggle throughout, shot it so darkly that the studio objected, and kept an ending that others believed would hurt the film. This result reflects persistence and a refusal to give up, even when that determination comes at a personal cost. Case Notes
You keep searching for a solution after others have accepted that the problem may be unsolvable.
New Line wanted a different ending, and Brad Pitt reportedly refused to make the film without the ending they shot.
The film helped establish Fincher as a defining thriller director after his difficult experience on Alien 3.
Your potential weakness is carrying a burden for too long and being the last to notice its effect.
Relentless Serious Principled Haunted
Memento Christopher Nolan · 2000 Nobody can quite follow your thinking, and you get there anyway.
Christopher Nolan tells Memento backwards, leaving the audience with as little information as the central character and turning the story into an examination of belief and evidence. This result suits someone who reaches answers by an unconventional route, even when explaining that route takes time. Case Notes
You solve problems from an unusual angle, and explaining your process can take longer than reaching the answer.
The film received 2002 nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing but won neither award.
It cost around nine million dollars and earned more than five times that amount, helping build Nolan’s career.
Your potential weakness is trusting your own account of events more than the available evidence supports.
Lateral Private Analytical Unreadable
Evidence Log
Clue
Rear Window
Se7en
Memento
Case filed by COLLIDER Collider.com · The Mystery Desk
Where Can You Watch the Neo-Noir Classic for Free?
The neo-noir classic is Taxi Driver, which follows Travis Bickle (De Niro), a lonely man who drives through New York and becomes a vigilante after seeing a young girl (Foster) being exploited. The film ranks 143rd on IMDb’s list of the top 250 movies. Made on a reported budget of less than $2 million, Taxi Driver earned around $30 million at the box office and prompted controversy over its violence.
Martin Scorsese clashed with the studio over the film’s graphic content and changed the final sequence to avoid an X rating. Taxi Driver remains known for its influence on criminals and for one of cinema’s most memorable lines: “You talkin’ to me?” In his nonfiction book Cinema Speculation, Quentin Tarantino called it “the greatest first-person character study ever committed to film.”
You can stream Taxi Driver on Pluto TV. Collider has additional updates.
Sarah Parker is a research analyst and content contributor with a strong interest in business strategy, organizational behavior, and social development. With a background in sociology and public policy, she focuses on exploring the intersection between research and real-world application. Sarah regularly contributes articles that bridge academic insights and practical relevance, aiming to foster critical thinking and innovation across sectors.
